


I Want You For a Lifetime

by WaiiKitsune



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Vaguely Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:08:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26609545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WaiiKitsune/pseuds/WaiiKitsune
Summary: Goro:It’s Ren.Goro:…I found him in the bathtub earlier.Futaba:…I take it not in the sexy mannerFutaba:not that I want to know about your sex livesFutaba:butGoro:YesGoro:He was…Goro:I don’t know how long he can hold his breathGoro:But I don’t think I’ll ever have the desire to know-----Or, in which Goro and Ren realize they don't want to let go.
Relationships: Akechi Goro & Sakura Futaba, Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 4
Kudos: 246
Collections: Quality Persona Fics





	I Want You For a Lifetime

**Author's Note:**

> **Warning:** Unintentional suicide scare - there is no intention of suicide, but a character briefly takes it that way and is scared by it.
> 
> Beta'd by the lovely [kilala2tail](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kilala2tail) and [Lightning515](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lightning515).

Goro was still muttering curses under his breath when he entered his apartment. 

Apart from the fact that he had overslept that morning and was forced to rush out without even having a morning coffee, he missed the train by _two_ seconds, and subsequently ended up a whole five minutes late for his lecture, which meant that he had no choice but to sit at the _back_ of the lecture hall instead of upfront if he had been thirty minutes early as planned. The entire process was not helped by the incessant laughter at the back of his head—and, really, what does it say about you if the manifestation of your true self laughed at your own misery. 

The rest of the day wasn’t any better. With Goro having three back-to-back classes, that meant that by the time he was done, lunch was long over and frankly, he was no longer hungry. 

In short, Akechi Goro was _not_ having a good day. 

Needless to say, six hours after he first ran out of his apartment, Goro was returned with not only a bloody _group assignment_ but also a wish that the Metaverse still existed purely so he could vent his seething fury on unsuspecting shadows. Alas, the Metaverse was long gone and Goro didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth—it had taken far too many miracles for Goro to reach where he was now, after all—so he’d have to settle for taking an hour or two to calm down at his apartment before making his way to Yongen-jaya for coffee, curry and the batting cages, in that particular order. 

(It took much more willpower than Goro had to _not_ slam his apartment door out of petty spite.)

Goro dropped his attaché case on the coffee table and slumped into the couch. He glanced at the television and briefly toyed with the idea of turning it on and letting a random show distract him. His eyes trailed down to his attaché case instead and his lips twitched into a smile. His old (and frankly obnoxious) attaché case sat at the back of his closet; the one he carried now was a birthday gift. The attaché case was still an aluminum one, but it was in a nice shade of gunmetal grey with a dark crimson interior lining. 

The sight of it made Goro pick up his phone. By his memory, the other should still be in class, so Goro settled for texting. 

> **Goro:** Hey
> 
> **Goro:** Call me when you see this?
> 
> **Goro:** I…
> 
> **Goro:** See you soon

A muffled sound in the distance made Goro frown as all of his previous bad mood left him in favour of apprehension and worry. He glanced around his apartment, then down at his phone again. 

> **Goro:** …Ren?
> 
> **Goro:** Where are you?

Again.

Goro was certain he heard it. 

The sound of a notification going off in his apartment. 

Goro carefully got off the couch and padded further into the apartment as he went over the details muddled in his head. He was sure that the apartment was properly locked when he returned, and there was no sign of the lock being broken. None of his stuff looked even slightly off either. Everything looked the same as it was when Goro had left in the morning…

…except that his bathroom door was almost fully closed, like it had rebounded open slightly after someone tried to slam it shut. 

“Ren?” Goro called, stopping outside the bathroom. There was something leaning against the gap in the door, which, on closer inspection, was definitely Ren’s messenger bag. Goro pressed his ear closer to the door and called out again. “Ren…?”

There was still no answer. 

Goro frowned. 

He was certain that Ren was in his apartment by now. Goro was surprised, not by the fact that Ren was here, but more that he showed up _unannounced_ ; Ren was aware that Goro disliked surprises, and would never visit Goro without dropping him a text first. 

He focused back on listening. Goro couldn’t hear any sounds of running water, which meant that the shower wasn’t on, but he could hear… bubbles. Very soft, and very muffled, but Goro could hear something bubbling. 

_In his bathroom._

All sense of propriety gone, Goro yanked the bathroom door open, took three precious seconds to actually see anything in the unlit bathroom, and felt his blood turn to ice. 

There was no sound of running water because the bathtub was already full. 

There were bubbling sounds because Amamiya Ren was _fully submerged_ under the bath, small pockets of air bubbling up to the surface from his lips and nose. 

Goro lunged forward, nearly tripping on the spilled bathwater, and yanked Ren upright by his arms. Ren struggled but Goro crushed him to his rapidly dampening chest, pinning down Ren’s flailing arms in the process. It took Ren another full minute to process what was happening around him (and probably the staccato beating of Goro’s heart). 

“Honey… you’re home…” 

“Ren…” Goro breathed, parting them just enough that he could look into the soft grey eyes as he pressed their foreheads together. Quietly, while still trying to calm his rapidly-beating heart, Goro said, “Yes… I’m home.” 

Ren’s smile was torn halfway between genuine and plastic, but the kiss he pressed to Goro’s lips was fond and affectionate. Yet, all Goro could think of was how cold Ren’s lips felt and, in hindsight, how cool the bathwater was when it splashed onto Goro’s exposed skin. 

“Ren…” Goro said gently. “What are you doing in the bathtub?” 

Ren frowned. 

…Actually, it looked more like he tried to scowl and failed and now it looked more like a petulant sulk than anything. 

“It’s… noisy today.” Ren said, so softly, that if Goro hadn’t been paying all hundred and ten percent of his focus on Ren, he wouldn’t have heard it. “But it’s quiet here. Peaceful.” 

Goro breathed out through his teeth slowly. 

It was something Ren had explained to him once. During The Year (as they called it), Ren was granted an ability called _Third Eye_ by a long-nosed weirdo-fake-god (Ren’s words, not his) which helped Ren to see things of interest more clearly and easily, in both the real world and the Metaverse. The ability didn’t quite fully fade away when the Metaverse disappeared but instead melted into Ren’s already naturally sharp observation, which meant that Ren was often seeing and hearing much more details than any normal being. Ren was able to tune those out most of the time—adaptability being his greatest strength—but sometimes his sight gets too overcrowded and the sounds get too noisy and Ren would find himself overwhelmed. 

One of those times, Ren had been in Shibuya. He ran to Goro’s apartment and did a very shoddy lockpicking job that resulted in Goro having to change the lock on his front door entirely. Ren was embarrassed for days but Goro only smiled and pressed a silver key into Ren’s still-shaking hands. 

Running to Goro’s apartment had been instinctual, Ren later explained. Originally chosen for the sole purpose of avoiding fans of his Detective Prince persona, Goro’s apartment complex was on the older side and fairly plain from the outside. It was a ten minutes walk away from the nearest Main Street, which meant that noise levels were already much lower and Goro had vetted his neighbours on top of that. All in all, it was a very good spot to get away from the general public.

“Goro…?” Ren bowed his head meekly. “I’m sorry I made a mess.” 

“It’s fine.” Goro said, pressing a kiss to the top of Ren’s head. “Do you want to get out of here now?” He felt Ren stiffen in his arms, so Goro quickly corrected, “Out of the bath, I mean.”

“Oh. Umm… yea.” Ren mumbled. 

“I’m going to pick you up.” Goro paused for a few moments to let the words sink in, before he reached down, slipped an arm under Ren’s knees and another behind his back and lifted. Ren squeaked and wrapped his arms around Goro’s neck hurriedly, feeling the brunet chuckle before setting him down on the edge of the bathtub.

“Darling, you’re supposed to take off your clothes when you bathe.” Goro scolded half-heartedly. 

“Maybe I wanted you to strip me.” Ren answered cheekily. 

“Menace.” Goro huffed and flicked at Ren’s nose. “I’m going to get you a change of clothes okay?” 

Ren shrugged and Goro pressed another kiss to his face before ducking out of the bathroom. 

Outside the apartment, the sun was slowly setting and the apartment was darkening by the minute. Still, it was Goro’s own apartment and he had been living there for years, so the lack of light barely fazed him as he headed into his bedroom. Though both of them had stayed over at the other’s place enough to have clothes stashed there, Goro decided to grab his own well-worn hoodie—a soft red hoodie with giant golden stars that look like it came straight out of a dancing game—and a pair of loose sweatpants before hurrying back to the bathroom. 

Ren had a towel tossed haphazardly over his head, like he tried to dry his hair but gave up halfway, and was staring forward blankly. Goro shook his head at the sight as he placed the dry clothes on the counter. Ren blinked out of his daze as Goro stepped into focus, and he lifted his arms, holding them out towards Goro expectantly. 

The next few minutes were spent in comfortable silence as Goro changed Ren out of his wet clothes and into Goro's clothes. 

“Are you ever going to return the clothes you stole from me or do I have to bring a suitcase with me the next time I stay over at your place?” Goro asked as he rubbed at Ren’s wet hair with a towel.

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.” Ren answered, looking up at Goro with innocent eyes. 

“Thief.” Goro accused mockingly. 

“Only of your heart, my love.” Ren winked. 

Heat rushed to Goro’s cheeks, setting it aflame and he rubbed at Ren’s hair just a bit harder out of spite as the thief in question _giggled_. Goro let out a long breath and tossed the towel in the laundry basket. 

“How’s your head?” Goro asked. Ren shrugged in non-answer. “Take a short nap while I get dinner going?” He tried instead.

This time, Ren nodded, holding out his arms again shamelessly. Goro made a face at him, but carried Ren to the bedroom anyway, tucking him under the comforter. He turned to make sure the curtains were drawn tightly, leaving the room blissfully dark, and by the time Goro turned back, a change of clothes in hand, Ren was already half-buried under the comforter with the hood of his hoodie up. Goro leaned down and brushed his lips tenderly over Ren’s shut eyelids before padding quietly out of the room and shutting the door behind him. 

Goro headed for the bathroom first, taking some time to clean up the spill in the bathroom, then a quick shower, before finally sitting on the couch and pulling out his phone. He skipped his social media notifications—he still has the accounts, but he was no longer obsessively active on them any longer—and headed straight for the browser, putting in several searches. The sheer amount of results stunned him, and Goro quickly abandoned it in favour of switching to his messaging app. 

> **Goro:** Recommend some noise-cancelling headphones
> 
> **Futaba:** hello to you too, jerk
> 
> **Goro:** Good evening, Futaba*
> 
> **Futaba:** (≧▽≦)/
> 
> **Futaba:** why do you even need noise-cancelling headphones
> 
> **Goro:** Studying
> 
> **Futaba:** bullcrap!
> 
> **Futaba:** you’re so good at tuning people out
> 
> **Futaba:** Ryuji and Mona was screeching right behind you
> 
> **Futaba:** and you were still studying
> 
> **Futaba:** super zen
> 
> **Goro:** First of all, language
> 
> **Futaba:** you’re not my dad
> 
> **Goro:** Brother-in-law. Same difference. 
> 
> **Goro:** WAIT-
> 
> **Futaba:** TOO LATE
> 
> **Futaba:** I have it in triplicates across so many servers 
> 
> **Goro:** …
> 
> **Futaba:** so you fancy being a Sakura huh? 
> 
> **Futaba:** ヾ(o✪‿✪o)ｼ
> 
> **Goro:** You do realise Ren is not a Sakura
> 
> **Futaba:** only because he’s so bad at emotion
> 
> **Futaba:** literal miracle that you two even got together
> 
> **Futaba:** I thought I had to deal with the sexual tension for the rest of my life 
> 
> **Goro:** …
> 
> **Futaba:** come on, spill the beanz 
> 
> **Futaba:** or I’ll tell Sojiro to adopt the both of you
> 
> **Goro:** He’d never agree 
> 
> **Goro:** But I recognise the threat 
> 
> **Goro:** It’s Ren. 
> 
> **Goro:** …I found him in the bathtub earlier. 
> 
> **Futaba:** …I take it not in the sexy manner
> 
> **Futaba:** not that I want to know about your sex lives
> 
> **Futaba:** but
> 
> **Goro:** Yes 
> 
> **Goro:** He was… 
> 
> **Goro:** I don’t know how long he can hold his breath
> 
> **Goro:** But I don’t think I’ll ever have the desire to know
> 
> **Futaba:** _[Link]_
> 
> **Futaba:** pricey, but I swear by it
> 
> **Futaba:** even has the same colour as the suitcase Ren got you
> 
> **Futaba:** which I found by the way
> 
> **Futaba:** so you’re welcome
> 
> **Goro:** Thank you Futaba
> 
> **Futaba:** is he…
> 
> **Goro:** I got him to take a nap
> 
> **Goro:** I need to get dinner started before he suspects anything
> 
> **Futaba:** don't burn down your apartment
> 
> **Goro:** You wound me
> 
> **Goro:** I learned from the best
> 
> **Futaba:** GROSS
> 
> **Goro:** And it’s attaché case, by the way
> 
> **Goro:** ;)
> 
> **Futaba:** MR FUTURE AMAMIYA-AKECHI GORO
> 
> **Futaba:** I WILL POST FEATHERMAN PORN ON ALL YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA
> 
> **Goro:** Ugh
> 
> **Goro:** That is atrocious
> 
> **Goro:** We are definitely not hyphenating
> 
> **Futaba:** SHDJGLNAL

Goro chuckled to himself as he tucked his phone away, making a mental note to look at the headphones Futaba recommended to him later. He headed for the kitchen, pulling out ingredients from the refrigerator and let himself sink into the mindless focus of cooking, only coming back to present when he felt arms wrapping around his waist from behind. 

“Smells good, babe…” 

A smile twitched at Goro’s lips, unbidden. “Good morning. Or evening, I suppose.” He murmured. “Feel better?” 

“Hmm.” Ren mumbled, nodding against Goro’s back. 

“I’m almost done.” Goro said. “Could you set the table, love?” 

“Sure.” 

Ren straightened up, and Goro tilted his head to the side, still keeping an eye on the stove. Their lips brushed together sweetly before Ren backed away to his own task. 

Dinner was a quiet affair. 

Goro decided against bringing up him oversleeping—they’d been up late last night talking on the phone and Ren was inevitably going to blame himself when it was Goro who missed his alarms thrice—and subsequently missing his breakfast, and instead talked about his classes for the day. Goro was three minutes into a rant about the evils of group assignments and the futility of it when Ren finally broke out laughing. The sound was like a wind chime clinking in the wind and a thought flashed through Goro’s mind so quickly and vividly that left him breathless. 

_‘I want to hear him laugh like that for the rest of my life.’_

He was reminded of the conversation he had with Futaba earlier. Though Goro had simply been going along with Futaba’s antics earlier, he wondered if he could imagine the rest of his life with Ren, and the answer, unsurprisingly, was an instant, _‘Yes’_ followed by, _‘God, I want to_ marry _him’_. 

“…o… Goro?” Ren was waving his hand in front of his face. 

“Ahh… my apologies.” Goro blinked. 

“Good thoughts?” Ren asked. “You were smiling.” He explained when Goro looked at him questioningly. 

“I believe so, yes.” Goro nodded, a pleased smile tugging at his lips. 

“Care to share with the class?” Ren prodded. 

“Not right now.” Goro answered apologetically. _‘But soon.’_ He promised inwardly. “Any plans for tonight? I don’t have anything particularly urgent on hand.”

“Me neither.” Ren replied. “...Netflix and chill?” Goro quirked an eyebrow, staring at him flatly and Ren snickered. “Fine, fine. Futaba was nagging me about this new show called… Account: INFINITY or something. Want to watch it with me?” 

“That’s an… interesting name.” Goro said carefully. “Alright, I’m in. Go set it up while I clean up.”

“Nuh-uh.” Ren shook his head. “You cooked, I wash. Rules.” 

Goro didn’t insist; neither he nor Ren liked to be coddled.

Fifteen minutes later, they were snuggled up on the couch, with Goro lying lengthwise, Ren on top of him and a knitted throw blanket—a gift from Sojiro—over them. 

“Futaba didn’t mention this was a police show.” Ren winced. 

“She probably figured you were going to watch it with me and withheld that information deliberately.” Goro grumbled. “When did she tell you about this show again?”

“She kept mentioning it but I think the last time was two days ago…?” Ren said slowly. He glanced at the sour look on Goro’s face, then, without looking away from Goro, reached out for his phone on the coffee table. Goro grabbed his wrist, a pleading look on his face, and Ren asked calmly, “Goro, is there featherman porn on your social media again?”

“...Yes. Probably.” 

“What did you do this time?” 

“Nothing a good bribe can’t fix.” 

“Goro.” 

_“Ren.”_

Goro let his voice drop to a low, alluring whisper and Ren blushed prettily in response. He laughed softly, leaning down and kissing Ren chastely on the lips before refocusing his attention on the show. Ren huffed testily but laid his head back down anyway, nuzzling into the crook of Goro’s shoulder as he relaxed. A final thought flashed through Ren’s mind before it was lost to the show. 

_‘God, I want to stay with him like this forever.’_

**Author's Note:**

> Please, _please_ let me know if I need additional tags or warning.  
> Thank you very much for reading.


End file.
